I almost never stop my pickup for hawks on utility poles but yesterday morning I stopped for this one thinking it might be a Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk.
1/6400, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
In fact I drove completely by her before I fully realized how dark she was but she stuck while I backed up for her even though I was directly beneath her on top of the pole (I’m guessing at the sex of the bird based on tarsi thickness). With my big lens I was so close to her I had to shoot vertically to keep her comfortably in the frame. Normally I don’t post photos of hawks on utility poles but I’m making an exception in order to document this unusually dark bird.
If possible I wanted photos of more of her plumage than we see here so I switched to my ‘baby lens’ in case she took off. She was side lit and I expected her to take off away from me so I didn’t have high hopes of getting a better look at her tail and beneath her wings in improved light
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in
But she spotted potential prey behind me and to my left so she took off partly in my direction which…
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in
allowed me to get a series of flight shots…
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in
in increasingly better light.
1/3200, f/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in
This is the last sharp shot I managed to get as the shooting angle became more difficult out my pickup window.
I doubt this is a Harlan’s red-tail because to my untrained eye she isn’t quite ‘black’ enough but I can’t completely rule it out it as a possibility. I used several resources in my attempt to make the ID including two from hawk authority Jerry Liquori but this is an immature bird which made the process more difficult for a rank amateur like me. There’s just too much variation, even in Harlan’s red-tails.
But Harlan’s or not I thought this bird was interesting enough to post this morning, utility poles and wires be damned.
Ron
The illustrations of juvenile Harlan’s in Brian Wheeler’s “Birds of Prey of the East” closely resemble this bird. He illustrates both lighter and darker plumage variations. Did you get a shot of the top side of her tail? Wheeler illustrates that the bands often, but not always, form a v shape in the middle of the tail.
Beautiful bird and shots. Love the ballet suggestion. I would love to see you in a Tutu.
Ha, that ballet suggestion was directed at the hawk, not me. Thankfully.
Those are knock-out flight shots of a magnificent bird (by any name)! I remember that measurement of the tarsi was quite accurate in predicting the sex of nestling Bald Eaglets but I have never thought about that feature when observing adults. The hallux is certainly longer in the female. In nestlings I think the measurement is from rear toe to middle front toe including tarsus but not including the nails.
Thank you, Kenneth. I understand that at least in red-tails the tarsi of females are observably larger in diameter than they are in males.
I’m beginning to think, based on your photos, that there are more “alternate” morphs of Red-tailed Hawks in Utah than the “standard” variety. Regardless, this is a captivating sequence. I am still trying to figure out how you aimed your camera out the window without serious physical trauma.
Lyle, there’s really no such thing as a standard variety of red-tails. Red-tailed Hawks are known for having more plumage varieties than any other species of buteo. I can’t say if Utah has more of those varieties than other areas or states but we do seem to have our share at least.
Speaking of red-tails, you won’t want to miss tomorrow’s post. This morning I had an incredible encounter with two of them.
WOW.
Ballet always requires strength and that is sooooo evident in this series.
Thanks, EC.
You were so right to post this series! She is an incredibly beautiful bird! We have lots of RTH here north of Phoenix but I have never seen a dark morph, let alone a bird as unique as this one. Thank you so much!
Thanks, Pat. I don’t see many dark morphs either.
Nice find, it would be interesting to find her later as her coloration develops with maturity.
It sure would!
Beautiful!
Thanks, Patrick.
Absolutely Breathtaking photos of her! I can almost hear her in flight. So powerful, graceful and beautiful. Wing and individual feathers are well defined and her eyes are wonderfully penetrating. Thank you, Ron!! I am so thankful that you chose to back up and take time with this beauty.
I’m pretty happy I came back for her too, Melanie. It was an impulsive decision – if I’d seen any traffic on the road in either direction I wouldn’t have.
Kismet!
🙂
Oh my gosh…this lifted my spirits! I love the shadow of one wing on the other!! You rock, Ron!
I also like the aerodynamics of wing feathers shown in the third photo.
“this lifted my spirits!”
Happy to hear that, Mary.
Pretty pretty pretty. I do t even take in the pole and wire. I guess that’s because that’s how I typically see hawks. 🙂
I wish I could ignore that ‘hardware’, Arwen. I find insulators in particular hard to ignore – they’re almost as bad as the wires.
She is a beauty! Congratulations! As does Judy, I love the ‘pirouette’ action. Why are those ‘dark’ birds are so elusive and yet coveted! 😍 Seven years ago by accident I happened to get photos of a ‘wayward’ Harlans near the marsh I frequent. I had no idea of what I had so sent the photos to the Hawk ID place and they were quite sure about it being a Harlans. Unfortunately for me I was heading home at twilight, the skies were late November gray with a mist in the air and he was perched atop a spruce with surrounding spruce tops around him so my photos were dark but I still treasure them. I keep hoping for that incident to re-run since I have a better lens now but you know how that goes…😞
Yes, I sure DO know how that goes, Kathy.
I’ve only photographed a confirmed Harlan’s two or three times in over 13 years of bird photography.
Praise and admiration, but also a little bit of envy that I can’t take photos like this. And taken from a truck window with a pole and wires in the way – that is extraordinary. I can be standing on solid ground with nothing whatsoever in the way and I can’t get photos like these. Great shots Ron. All sharp and the colors are beautiful. And a little credit to the hawk – she’s a beauty.
Everett, in some ways it’s actually a little easier to get sharp shots while shooting from my pickup instead of hand holding because if the angle is right I can rest my lens on my noodle or brace it against the upper window frame. For these flight shots I was bracing it against the upper window frame – it was a steep shooting angle.
BEAUTIFUL hawk no matter what it is! 😀 Love the “pirouette” appearance in the 2nd shot with her right foot appearing to “delicately” clasp the wire. 😉
Thanks, Judy. I like that pose too, despite the insulator and wire.